Legend: Sr. Dr. Maura Lynch
Nov 26, 2019
In 1993 she initiated the Obstetric Fistula Repair programme inviting specialists from the UK to Kitovu three times a year to carry out 885 fistula repairs
Maura Lynch was born to Patrick and Jane Lynch on September 10, 1938 in the seaside town of Youghal, County Cork, Ireland. After her secondary education, Maura joined the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Clonmel in 1956. She enrolled in Medicine at University College Dublin (UCD) in 1958, graduating in 1964 in the top three of the class with an MB BCh BAO degree and a gold medal for surgery.
After a lifetime devoted to the care of women in Africa, Sr Dr Maura Lynch acquired the Ugandan name ‘Nakimuli' meaning ‘Beautiful Flower'. In 1987, she was assigned to Kitovu Mission Hospital in Uganda as a consultant surgeon/obstetrician/gynaecologist with responsibility for training of medical officers in surgical and obstetrics and gynaecology skills where she later she established a centre of excellence in the treatment of obstetric fistula and for training of healthcare professionals.
In 1993 she initiated the Obstetric Fistula Repair programme inviting specialists from the UK to Kitovu three times a year to carry out 885 fistula repairs. During this time she also encouraged visiting surgeons and other consultants to come to Kitovu under the sponsorship of rotary Doctors Bank of Great Britain and Ireland. This programme received international recognition and awards.
Between 2004 and 2005, Dr. Maura fundraised and supervised the building of a Fistula Unit in Kitovu with 28 beds. Over a 30 year career in Uganda, it is estimated that she was responsible for conducting over 1,300 vesicovaginal fistula repairs. She was a founding member of the Association of Surgeons in Uganda. The government of Uganda granted her a Certificate of Residency for life. University College Dublin awarded her an Honorary Fellowship of the School of Medicine in 2007.
In 2013 she was given an honorary Fellowship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from London College of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and in 2015 she was awarded the Council of Europe's North-South Prize. On the day of the golden jubilee of her arrival in Africa, December 9, 2017, she died in Nsambya Hospital. She was buried at Butende Monastery, a few miles away from Kitovu Hospital.
Fact file
1938 Born in Youghal
1958 Entered MMM, Clonmel
1958 Enrolled in UCD Medicine 1964 Graduated MB BCh BAO
1967 Moved to Angola
1985 Fellowship in Surgery
1987 Moved to Uganda
2005 Opened VVf Unit, Kitovu
2007 Fellow, Association of Surgery, Uganda
2007 Fellow, UCD School of Medicine in recognition of her 43 years of medical care in Africa
2009 Nominated by UNFPA (Uganda) as ‘Leader in fight against Fistula
2013 Honorary Fellowship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from London College of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (FR.C.O.G).
2014 Prestigious Council of Europe's North-South Prize. She was chosen in recognition of her ground-breaking work with women whose lives have been devastated by obstetric fistula in Sub-Saharan Africa.
2017 Golden Jubilee
Died in Uganda
What others said about her
Professor Bill Powderly, former Dean of Medicine at the UCD School of Medicine described her work as, "an astonishing record that one can confidently say will never be bettered. As a result of seeing at first hand the physical, psychological and social isolation endured by African women, she became a champion of dignity and justice for women in the developing world".
Speaking at her funeral, the representative of the Irish Ambassador to Uganda, Ms Áine Doody noted, "Alongside her well recognized achievements what stands out in the life of Sr Maura was her energy, generosity, outgoing personality and sense of fun. At the Irish Embassy hosted lunch in Kampala each year for the Irish Missionaries on the day of the St Patrick's Day reception Sr Maura was the life and soul of the party. She was the one to dance and encourage others to do so and enjoyed a song and the craic".
Throughout her distinguished medical career, Sr Dr Maura Lynch was a pioneer of innovative surgery and surgical training, a champion of impoverished women's health services in Africa and a missionary who dedicate herself to the service of others.